Global police organisation Interpol said the recent seizures of thousands of fake COVID-19 vaccines in China and South Africa are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in vaccine-related crime.

Interpol said 2400 doses of the fake vaccine were found at a warehouse outside Johannesburg, leading to the arrest of three Chinese nationals, and one Zambian national.

Police in China raided the manufacturing premises of a network selling counterfeit vaccines, leading to the arrest of 80 suspects and the seizure of more than 3000 fake vaccines.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews plan to pressure the Prime Minister at the National Cabinet meeting today to approve two new quarantine centres in both states. 

Queensland’s intake is currently capped at 1,000 arrivals per week, while Victoria’s is 1,310. 

With the international border bans being extended to June, and around 40,000 Australians still stranded overseas, repatriation has become a mounting priority.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr. Jeannette Young says six passengers that arrived in Queensland on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha last month may have contracted the Russian variant of COVID-19 from a super-spreader.

While Dr. Young is not concerned that the Russian variant is more contagious or problematic than other strains, a super-spreader may have spread the virus to more passengers on the flight or in hotel quarantine.

Ipswich City Council has begun investigating the illegal dumping of construction waste on a main road in Redbank Plains.

Residents have been complaining about the large amount of waste on Austin street for some time, with locals taking matters into their own hands transporting the construction waste to the local dump themselves when the Council takes too long to respond to complaints.

Ipswich city council is urging anyone who has knowledge about illegal dumping in the area to come forward. 

The Australian Defence Department has released freedom of information documents regarding its involvement with the Myanmar military, which has been under fire in light of the recent coup.

The Australian government has maintained that Australian involvement is modest, largely providing disaster relief and human rights support. While the documents do not directly contradict this line, they also do not show Australian support slowing during the 2017 Rohingya genocide.

A new survey by Vox Pop Labs for the ABC found 19% of those who identify with the right side of politics are ‘very unlikely’ to take the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 4% of those on the left.

Professor Julie Leask, an advisor for the World Health Organisation, warns of the potential of Australia following the US and parts of Europe in a trend of political polarisation around vaccination.

Professor Leask cites a need for leaders and influencers on the right in Australia to demonstrate their commitment to vaccination.

Israel’s environmental protection minister Gila Gamliel has accused Iran as the perpetrator of a disastrous oil spill off Israel’s coastline, calling the incident an act of environmental terrorism. 

The conclusion came as a surprise to many government, navy, and intelligence officers, who said that they had not been briefed on the investigator’s claim before it went through the media. 

The environmental protection ministry has backtracked on the minister’s claim, saying it was a “high probability” that it was not a terrorist incident.

In local news, Maiwar Greens MP Michael Berkman says the Education Department is considering alternative proposals to a new primary school at Indooroopilly State High School.

Locals and surrounding schools have criticised the proposal to build the new inner-west primary school in Indooroopilly, citing increasing traffic and safety concerns in the area.

Mr Berkman has criticised the Education Departments consultation process, describing it as, 

Construction has started on Queensland’s new mega-prison in the Lockyer Valley, which Corrections Minister Mark Ryan has called “Queensland’s second biggest infrastructure project after Cross River Rail”, and which is set to economically revitalise the region.

The project was commissioned as a response to overcrowding issues in state prisons, which have precipitated a rise in assaults. The new prison will be purpose-built to deal with drug offences, with rehabilitative and mental health specialist services onsite.